Man charged with dragging state trooper with car in Pilsen

A man has been charged with attempted murder for dragging an Illinois State Police trooper with a car earlier this year in Pilsen on the South Side.

Christopher J. Overton, 23, is charged with a felony count of attempted first degree murder for the May 26 incident near 18th Street and Union Avenue, according to a statement from state police.

Overton was arrested Friday and remains in custody at the Cook County Jail on $500,000 bail, according to Cook County court records. He was expected to appear in court again on Monday.

An Illinois Department of Transportation minuteman called authorities at 5:16 a.m.on May 26 to report Overton and a female walking away from a single-vehicle crash on southbound I-94 at 18th, state police said. A responding trooper found the pair near 18th and Union and started to talk to them.

Illinois State Police

While they were talking, a relative of theirs drove up in another vehicle, state police said. Overton, who had been driving the vehicle in the earlier crash, ran to the family member’s car while the trooper was questioning him and tried to drive away.

The trooper tried to stop the car and was dragged for about half a block while holding onto the steering wheel, state police said.

The trooper fell to the pavement and the vehicle kept going and crashed at 18th and Halsted streets, state police said. Overton got out and ran. The female and the relative stayed at the scene with police.

The trooper, a five-year veteran of the department, was treated and released from a hospital, state police said.

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